Blake's 7

Contents

Judge: The accused has been found guilty on all charges. His crimes have been accorded a category nine rating and as such are judged most grave. In sentencing you, the judgement machine has taken into account your past record; your service to the state and your loyalty to The Federation. None of these has mitigated in your favour. It is the sentence of this tribunal that you be taken from this place to an area of close confinement. From there you will be transported to the penal colony on the planet Cygnus Alpha where you will remain for the rest of your natural life.

Vila: Easy! Take it easy! I hate personal violence, especially when I'm the person.

Vila: You're on your way to the penal colony on Cygnus Alpha. Or you will be when the prison ship's refueled. Try to look on the bright side: It must have something; none of the guests have ever left early... In fact none of them have ever left at all.

Blake: Why are you going there?

Vila: They didn't give me a choice. [Pause] I steal things. compulsive, I'm afraid. I've had my head adjusted by some of the best in the business. But it just won't stay adjusted.

Blake: A professional thief?

Vila: More a vocation than a profession; other people's property just comes naturally to me.

Blake: No, not until free men can think and speak. Not until power is back with the honest man.

Avon: Have you ever met an honest man?

Avon: Listen to me. Wealth is the only reality. And the only way to obtain wealth is to take it away from somebody else. Wake up, Blake! You may not be tranquilised any longer, but you're still dreaming.

Jenna: He fixes the log, the crew dump us, pocket the profit, and set him free.

Vila: That's immoral. The cold-hearted murdering -- let's kill him now before he can do it.

Blake: If you had access to the computer, could you open the doors?

Avon: Of course. Why?

Blake: Just wondered how good you really were.

Avon: Don't try to manipulate me, Blake.

Vila: No, I can't go in there, I've got a condition - a fear of enclosed spaces. There's a name for it...

Jenna: Cowardice?

Jenna: How do you feel?

Blake: Sick.

Avon: So you should. What a fiasco. You could take over the ship, you said, if I did my bit. Well, I did my bit, and what happened? Your troops bumble around looking for someone to surrender to, and when they've succeded, you follow suit.

Cpt. Leyland: I hope hope Mr Raiker's made it clear to you that you can refuse to do this.

Blake: Oh yes, he's also made it clear that summary execution is one of our options. We chose the other.

Vila: Tell him I've just worked out a completely new strategy. It's called Running away.

Jenna:[Over communicator] He's ready.

Vila: There isn't a lock I can't open... if I'm scared enough.

Blake: Are you scared enough for that one?

Vila: What do you think?

Cally: They're taking too long.

Avon: That's the trouble with heroics, they seldom run to schedule.

Jenna: They'll find it. There's not going to be a sign up there saying This way to the cipher room.

Gan: They may need help.

Cally: I think so too.

Avon: They would have called in.

Jenna: Avon's right.

Avon: I usually am.

Vila: Hello there. How are you? Excuse me wandering about your premises but I wonder if you can help me. I'm an escaped prisoner. I was a thief but recently I've become interested in sabotage, in a small way you understand, nothing too ambitious, I hate vulgarity, don't you? Anyway, I've come to blow something up. What do you think will be most suitable?

Blake: You don't matter enough to kill, Travis.

Doctor: She's not yet well enough to submit to intensive questioning. She must have rest.

Travis: Yes, thank you very much indeed, Doctor, you are relieved of your responsibility for the prisoner. She is now the property ... the concern of the interrogation division.

Blake: I get the distinct feeling I offended Zen's professional pride.

Avon: It's just a machine, Blake.

Vila: And he should know.

Gan: Well, Avon is the expert.

Vila: That's not what I meant.

Avon: No. He was calling me a machine. But since he undoubtedly defines himself as a human being, I shall choose to take that as more of a compliment than anything else.

Blake:on Travis: How do you demonstrate the death of a friend to a man who hasn't got any?

Blake: Have you got any better ideas?

Avon: As a matter of fact, no, I haven't.

Blake: Does that mean you agree?

Avon: Do I have a choice?

Blake: Yes.

Avon: Then I agree.

Vila: Have you thought of another plan?

Avon: Yes. I'm going to get some sleep.

Vila: How can you sleep with all this happening?

Avon: With all what happening? Blake is sitting up in a tree, Travis is sitting up in another tree. Unless they're planning to throw nuts at one another, I don't see much of a fight developing before it gets light.

Gan: You're never involved, are you Avon? You ever cared for anyone?

Vila: Except yourself?

Avon: I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all. [Exits]

Avon: It is your assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.

Vila: I don't want data, I want to know what's happening.

Zen: It will be necessary for you to make a personal investigation.

Vila: Oh, you're a big help. Personal investigation... Personal investigation... The next time Avon wants to make a personal investigation on how you work I shall make a personal point of handing him the instruments. Personally.

Avon: First sign of trouble, we get out, right?

Jenna: Goes without saying.

Avon: I only wish it did.

(Vila fails to remove an explosive collar from Blake's neck)

Vila: I told you I couldn't do it!

Avon: I believed you all along.

Vila: Nobody can open it!

Avon: I thought you could open anything - that's always been one of your more modest claims.

Jenna: It could be an injured pilot.

Avon: It could be a trap.

Gan: It's not a very good one, then. We're suspicious of it already.

Avon: The test is not whether you are suspicious but whether you are caught.

Blake: It's time we really hurt the Federation. Oh, we've been hitting at the fingers, the arms. I want to hit at the heart. And the heart of the Federation is Earth.

Jenna: Where, exactly, or do you plan to take the whole planet?

(Avon has just agreed to join Blake on his suicidal mission)

Blake: Do you want to tell me why?

Avon: I like the challenge.

Blake: You don't want to tell me why.

Avon: If we succeed, if we destroy control, the Federation will be at it's weakest. It will be more vulnerable than it has been for centuries. The revolt in the outer worlds will grow. Resistance movements on Earth will launch an all-out attack to destroy The Federation, they will need unifying; they will need a leader. You will be the natural choice.

Blake: Possibly.

Avon: Don't be modest, Blake, you are the only one that they would all follow. You would have no choice; you would have to stay on Earth and organise the revolt.

Blake: If there's no other way.

Avon: There wouldn't be.

Blake: That still doesn't explain why you're backing me.

Avon: With you running the campaign on Earth, somebody has to take charge of all this.

Blake:[Laughing] You want The Liberator?

Avon: Exactly. If we succeed, the destruction of control gives us both what we want.

Vila: Yes, I always knew you had a friend. I used to say to people, "I bet Avon's got a friend...somewhere in the galaxy."

Avon: And you were right. That must be a novel experience for you.

Vila: When Avon holds out the hand of friendship, watch his other hand. That's the one with the hammer.

Avon: Vila?

Vila: What?

Avon: You're a fool.

Vila: Nerves getting to you?

Avon: There are a quarter of a million volts running through that converter. I make one false move, I'll be so crisped up what's left of me won't fit into a sandwich.

Vila: I'm a vegetarian. Thanks for the offer, though.

Vila: You don't have a lot of time for Blake, do you?

Avon: I could never stand heroes.

Vila: A quarter of a million volts and you're putting your hand in?

Avon: Ah, but that is self-interest. We need that crystal. Blake takes risks to help other people. Sometimes people he doesn't even know. One day that great big bleeding heart of his will get us all killed.

Vila: Unless somebody ditches him first.

Tynus: By the way, why don't our detectors pick up the Liberator?

Vila: Anti-detection screen, one of Avon's gadgets. We're expecting it to break down any time.

Avon: Exactly. He's used a number of ploys to get his own way, but "Just try trusting me"? That's weak even by his standards

Cally: So what is wrong?

Orac: You deduced it yourself earlier. Space Command has long tried to perfect a course interceptor attuned to the circuitry of navigtional computers and rational coordinators like Zen. The scientists on Auron, however, had the wit to aim for the weaker point.

Avon: The human brain.

Orac: Correct.

Cally: A telepathic order was beamed to Blake to force him reroute to that asteroid?

Orac: As you, yourself, forsaw.

Avon: So tell us something new.

Orac: It is to Blake that you should look for the new.

Avon: What's that supposed to mean? That they are still influencing him?

Orac: Correct again.

Avon: But how? A device of that kind would need an enormous power source.

Orac: Agreed. But now that they...

Avon:[Interrupting] Now that they are close at hand, low power; of course.

Cally: What do we do?

Avon: Locate and destroy it.

Orac: And restore Blake to his senses.

Avon: The two don't necessarily follow.

Glynn: Be careful not to tamper with it. At this close range it could cause serious damage to your computers.

Avon: Is that correct Orac?

Orac: No. Negative. Denied. Incapable of damage.

Cally(to Blake): Are you all right?

Jenna: He's a hard man to rescue when he doesn't want to be rescued.

Avon: More to the point, are you yourself?

Blake: What happened? Why aren't we at Del 10? What's going on, Avon?

Avon: Why don't you just say thank you, nicely.

Blake: Well what are we all standing around for? Or has the Federation disappeared? Our problem is to find Star One, if you haven't forgotten. (Walks off.)

Avon: I am sorry to have to inform you… that he is himself, all right.

Avon: First, catch your computer, but all right, it probably is, and that being the case the choice of location is fascinating.

Blake: I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Avon: The nearest large galaxy to our own is Andromeda.

Blake: So?

Avon: So, this is the nearest point to Andromeda. If anyone could cross intergalactic space in less than a lifetime we are now precisely upon the route that they would take.

Blake: What are you trying to say, Avon?

Avon: I directed the detectors toward the Andromeda galaxy. There are thousands of satellite generators out there... beyond Star One.

Blake: What?

Avon: Even with the Federation's resources it must have taken them years.

Blake:[examining a readout] That must be the biggest antimatter minefield ever put together!

Vila: Minefield, what minefield?

Avon: Perhaps the intergalactic drive has been developed. The question is, by whom?

Blake: A defense zone to keep mankind in, or something else out.

Jenna: So it's a combined alarm system and minefield.

Orac: Correct. If I may continue.

Vila: He always makes me feel as if I should be taking notes.

Orac:[annoyed]If I may continue.

Vila: Then they are expecting an invasion? A hoard of hairy aliens!

Orac: There is no logical reason why aliens should be hairy.

Vila: There's no logical reason why people should be hairy!

Avon:As far as I'm concerned you can destroy whatever you like. You can stir up a thousand revolutions. You can wade in blood up to your armpits. Oh, and you can lead the rabble to victory -- whatever that may mean. Just so long as there's an end to it. When Star One is gone, it is finished, Blake. And I want it finished! I want it over and done with, I want to be free!

Cally: But you are free now, Avon.

Avon:[Bitterly, while glaring at Blake] I want to be free of him!

Travis: Put the gun down, Avon, it's too late to stop it now.

Avon: Convince me.

Travis: Be polite and I may let you live.

Avon: Be informative and I may let you die. You'll want that after I've shot off an arm and a leg or two.

Travis: I thought you were supposed to be the one with brains.

Avon: Brains but no heart. Now talk or scream, Travis, the choice is yours.

[They see an Andromedan for the first time]

Technician: What is it?

Avon: Unfriendly. Which is fortunate, they'd be difficult to love.

Alien:[believing he is talking to Travis] Why have you betrayed your own kind? Why have you given us the means to eradicate your species?

Blake: Eradicate Humanity?

Alien: Virtually.

Blake: [re-assuming Travis' arrogant persona] Well Maybe I just don't like crowds!

Travis:[When Travis is about to secretly let a horde of Aliens through a galactic defense shield to wipe out all of humanity] My one regret, is that they'll never know who really killed them...

Blake:[To Avon] For what it is worth, I have always trusted you. Right from the very beginning.

Avon: Well, I hope she's not totally insane. Under the circumstances that could be a little bit embarrassing.

Zen: Damage control estimates that breakdown is now beyond the capacity of auto-repair systems in all areas. Serious malfunction in life-support would indicate that evacuation by life capsule is a priority one requirement.

Dayna: I Like the ancient weapons. The spear, the sword, the knife. They demand more skill. When you fight with them, conflict becomes more personal... More exciting.

Avon: More dangerous.

Dayna: Of course! Without danger, there's no pleasure.

Avon: That must limit your range of pleasures a bit.

Avon: I have had enough excitement for a while. Right now a little boredom wouldn't come amiss.

Servalan:[Pointing a gun at Avon's head from behind] Stay quite still.

Avon: Servalan.

Servalan: You don't sound surprised.

Avon: Why should I be? It has a perverse kind of logic to it. Our meeting is the most unlikely happening I could imagine; therefore, we meet. Surprise seems inappropriate somehow.

Hal Mellanby: You're not alone in losing your ship. The losses on both sides have been tremendous. I've been monitoring the status transmissions.

Kerr Avon: Did we win?

Hal: Sounds very confused, but there's not much doubt. The aliens were virtually wiped out.

Avon: Well the price was high enough. But at least we got what we paid for.

Hal: You almost didn't. It was a close run thing; what's left of the federation fleet, which isn't much, is scattered halfway across the galaxy. I'd say the Federation is in a lot of trouble.

Avon: Yes, it's difficult to sustain a military dictatorship when you've lost most of the military. [Hal laughs] I only hope Blake survived long enough to know that he was winning.... Both wars.

Hal: Blake? You were with Blake?

Avon: Yes. Though it hardly seems to matter now, if it ever did.

Hal:If it mattered? Blake and the Liberator. I've been hearing reports over the last couple of years. You were magnificent!

Avon: Not from where I was sitting.

[Discussing Dayna]

Hal: She has a genius with weaponry systems. And that's not just a father's pride talking.

Avon: And yet, with all this to choose from, she still goes around with a bow and arrows.

Hal: She takes absurd risks. I try to discourage her but I think she's trying to prove to herself that there's no weapon, ancient or modern, she cannot master.

Avon: I seldom comment on other people's ethics.

Servalan: I'm going to be honest with you.

Avon: That should be mildly disconcerting.

Avon: It's a great pity you and I have always been on opposite sides, Servalan.

Avon: That? No, no, it's purely defensive. An analogue of something that evolves on the permanent dark side of a planet. A highly simplified copy of course.

Tarrant: Permanent dark side? Are you saying you've...

Avon: I've built an artificial Sopron. Yes, that's what I'm saying.

[Zen informs Servalan that the module is marginally better equipped than Liberator]

Avon: Self defense. Some animals bristle out their fur to frighten their enemies. But that doesn't count for much in the dark.

Vila: So what does Sopron do?

Avon: Sopron is a mirror. A distorting mirror. It reflects a slightly greater image of whatever it is that happens to be scanning it. Zen saw a capacity-charged brain, because that is what Zen is. Orac saw a highly sophisticated computer because that is what Orac is. Cally thought that she saw her parents, But what she actually saw was herself.

Tarrant: And will that work?

Avon: Oh yes. The question is... what will Servalan see? And will she be fooled by it?

Vila: All my life, for as long as I can remember, there's been people like you.

Tarrant: And I thought I was unique.

Vila: You're not even unusual, Tarrant.

Avon(on Vila): I don't know how you persuaded him to go, Tarrant.

Tarrant: I appealed to his better nature.

Avon: He hasn't got one. Leave him alone in future.

Tarrant: Or?

Avon: Do you want me to threaten you?

Tarrant: Why not. I haven't had a good laugh in ages.

Avon: Sensible. You could die laughing.

Cally(on Vila): He was terrified. So terrified he might just get himself killed, because it's easier than going on.

Tarrant: I'll take that risk.

Cally: It isn't yours to take.

Vila: I'll get you for this, Tarrant! I'll tear your arm off and beat you to death with the wet end! I'll get you for this!

Vila: Ah. Well, if you put it like that, of course I know who you are. You're -- you're, ah --

Bayban the Butcher: Bayban.

Vila: Bayban, yes.

Bayban the Butcher: Bayban the Beserker. Bayban the Butcher.

Vila: Bayban the Butcher . . . you're Bayban the Butcher! Oh, no.

Bayban the Butcher: That's better.

Vila: You're top of the Federation's Most Wanted list -- after Blake.

Bayban the Butcher: What do you mean, "after Blake"? I was working my way up that list before he crept out of his creche. WORKING my way up. I didn't take any political shortcuts.

Vila: I know, I know. You have a reputation for straightforward mayhem that's second to none. I've been an admirer of yours for, um, well, for as long as I can remember. Well maybe not that long, I mean, uh, you're not that old, are you? But, uh, then again, you did start very young, didn't you? I think I feel sick.

Bayban the Butcher: My mother [Sees the look on Vila's face] Oh yes, I had a mother; truly evil person. My mother used to say "Babe" -- she called me Babe -- "babe", she said, "Live every hour as though it were your last." I'll be back in an hour.

Avon: The point is that Vila won't trust you whereas he will trust Cally and me.

Tarrant: Cally yes, but why you?

Avon: Because he knows what I think about him.

Tarrant: You despise him.

Avon: Right. But at least I'm consistent about it.

Sherm: You've twenty-five minutes left.

Vila: Who told you that?

Sherm: Bayban:

Vila: I didn't think you could have worked it for yourself... Joke! Just a joke.

Vila: I don't believe in suicide, it stunts your growth!

Vila:[Sees a corpse decayed to a skeleton] Lost a lot of weight, hasn't he?

Cally: Yes, Auron. It's pointless to think about it. I'll never see it again.

Avon: That's why you've been shut in here for ten hours, thinking about Auron and how you'll never see it again?

Cally: That's why.

Avon: I wish I could promise you that the sparkling company on the flight deck would take you out of yourself.

Cally: I'm all right.

Avon: No you're not. But you will be. Regret is part of being alive. But keep it a small part.

Cally: As you do?

Avon: (Smiles) Demonstrably.

Tarrant: Ah, Cally - I've been going over that theory of yours about the teleport bracelets boosting each other. As you're aware, it doesn't make sense.

Cally: You have a better one?

Tarrant: There was some kind of power source on that alien ship that you were telepathically receptive to. When the teleport failed, you were able to use that source to get yourself out, and to get Avon and Vila out with you.

Cally(sarcastically): I seem to be more clever than I thought I was!

Tarrant: What I really want to know is why you're being so bashful. (serious) What are you hiding, and why?

Avon: Shut up, Tarrant.

Tarrant(angrily): Did you say something to--

Avon: I said, shut up. I apologise for not realising you are deaf.

Tarrant(to Avon): When you found me on the Liberator, it was quite a blow. And every time you look at me it hits you harder, doesn't it? I'm faster than you and I'm sharper. As far as it goes, I've made a success of my life. But you? The only big thing you ever tried to do you failed at. The greatest computer swindle of all time… but you couldn't quite pull it off, could you? If it hadn't been for Blake you'd be rotting on Cygnus Alpha right now. No, you failed, Avon. But I win. Not just at games. At life.

Avon: You also talk too much.

Tarrant: Be thankful I'm restricting myself to talk.

Avon: Well now, that's fascinating. You mean you can do something else?

Deyna: We need sleep, all of us. Even you need sleep, Tarrant.

Tarrant: And it'll all look better in the morning.

Avon: If it does, you can assume you're on the wrong ship.

Alien/Cally: I thought you were the clever one. You're a fool, like Tarrant! The pain Tarrant is experiencing ... visualise that pain and much more. You're as close to death as you have ever been. Think about human death, Avon, irrevocable...

Avon: I have thought about it, what's keeping you?

Alien/Cally: What did you say?

Avon: You claim you can kill me. You'd better get on with it. Make me die. There's nothing else you can make me do.

Vila: I tell you, she's mad! She's finally gone over the top! Well, that's an interesting viewpoint, Vila. Yes, isn't it? Came from talking to myself. Fascinating. And do you have any other theories about... paranoids?

(Tarrant threatens Vila at gunpoint)

Vila: If it comes down to that, Tarrant, there isn't really a lot of point, is there?

Tarrant: All right, Avon, we'll try trusting you. Just don't expect us to make a habit of it.

Tarrant: Oh, come on, Avon. Look, we've been through a lot together. We've always been at risk; we've always taken chances. But we've survived because we worked as a team. So what is it you have to do that makes this so different?

Avon: This happens to be my problem. None of you are involved.

Dayna: But we are involved. However much you like to pretend you're a loner, you're not really. We depend on each other; I wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for you, and I'm sure that's true of everybody else. So why not trust us?

Vila: Look, you don't have to give reasons. You don't even have to explain. Whatever it is, we'll back you up.

Cally: Or, if you want one of your own cold, rational explanations, we can't afford to lose you.

Avon(poker-faced): Sentiment breeds weakness. Let it get a hold of you and you are dead.

Avon: One last thing. I don't need any of you. I needed the Liberator to bring me here so I had no choice but to bring you along, but this is as far as you go. I don't want you with me, I don't want you following me. Understand this: anyone who does follow me, I'll kill them.

(Tarrant and Cally are teleporting down despite Avon's orders)

Vila: What're you going to do if he spots you?

Tarrant: Duck.

Blake: It must have been so dull, having no-one to argue with.

Avon: Well now, there were times when your simpleminded certainties might have been refreshing.

Tarrant: You're possibly the most unscrupulously venomous woman in the galaxy. Being shut in here with you is rather like being locked in a cage with a panther. A black cat with large golden eyes, and longer silver talons.

Avon: Figureheads aren't too difficult to come by. Any idiot can be one.

Dayna: On your feet, Vila, this could be your big moment.

Avon: Any idiot within reason, that is.

Tarrant: A 'strategic withdrawal' is running away. But with dignity.

Vila: So lay in a course and let's get the dignified hell out of here.

Avon: I think we can find ourselves another figurehead. Someone we can use to unify and expand the rebel alliance.

Soolin: Just like that?

Avon: More or less. He is strongly identified with rebels, you see. And very popular with rabbles. They will follow him and he will fight to the last drop of their blood. Idealism is a wonderful thing, all you need is someone rational to put it to proper use.

Avon: In the end, winning is the only safety.

Tarrant: Are you going to stop playing games and tell us who it is, Avon?

Vila: It's Blake, isn't it? You think you've found Blake.

Blake:Nobody's indispensible."

Blake:I find it hard to trust, it's a failing I admit!

Tarrant: What on earth happened to you?

Blake: Oh, most of it wasn't on Earth. Not what happened to me.

Avon: Orac, what proof do we have that Blake is on Gauda Prime?

Orac: That is where his trail ends.

Tarrant: What trail? Explain.

Orac: The chain of cause and effect amounts to a trail, if you can follow it.

Vila: I can't even follow you.

Orac: Everything has an effect on everything else around it. It is not easy to trace one line through the pattern of infinity. But in this case, I have. Blake is on Gauda Prime.